Frictional resistant type exercising device



Sept. 29, 1970 B. F. SHERMAN ET AL 3,531,113

FRIGTiONAL RESISTANT TYPE EXERCISING DEVICE Filed Dec. 20, 1967 INVENTOR. BENJAMIN F. SHERMAN BY HAZEL L. ALEXANDER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,531,113 FRICTIONAL RESISTANT TYPE EXERCISING DEVICE Benjamin F. Sherman, 8369 Mt. Vernon, Lemon Grove,

Calif. 92045, and Hazel L. Alexander, 1934 /2 Edgemont St., San Diego, Calif. 92102 Filed Dec. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 692,226 Int. Cl. A631) 21/02 US. Cl. 272-82 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus generally comprising a pair of foot or leg receiving stirrups interconnected by a frictionally held resilient member wherein persons exercise their upper leg muscles by moving their legs and the stirrups in a lateral direction against the friction restraining force opposing translational movement of the resilient member due to an unbalanced force on one stirrup.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many exercising devices known in the art for the general purpose of exercising. However, there are few, if any, exercising devices that specifically and effectively exercise the upper leg muscles, such as the ab ductor and add ductor muscles. These muscles often become weak because of disease or other causes and require specifically directed exercising to increase their strength. Accordingly, it is an advancement in the art to have an exercising device for exercising the upper leg muscles and specifically the ab ductor and add ductor muscles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an embodiment of our invention, a pair of independent stirrup members are interconnected by a resilient means such as, for example, a stretchable rubber cable. This resilient means or member is restrained by a holding device in its lateral movement relative to the person using the exercising apparatus, when the person moves the stirrups with movement of his foot or legs. In one embodiment of our invention the resilient member is frictionally held by a resilient ball shaped device having a conduit therethrough. The resilient member passes through the conduit passage and is frictionally restrained in movement therethrough. The ball shaped device also has a metal pin embedded therein to provide a bearing surface for movement of the resilient member through the conduit passage. A holding device is connected to and extends from one side of the ball shaped device and in a direction substantially normal to the conduit passage. It has a handle member for being grasped by the hands. The ball device also has a flattened side for resting on the users abdominal section as may occur in use of the exercising apparatus.

In a second embodiment of our invention, a pair of stirrup members are interconnected at their outer sides by a first resilient member that passes through a rigid tube. The inner sides of the stirrups are interconnected by a second resilient member with the mid point of the second resilient member being connected to the outer surface of the mid point of the tube. In use, the legs or feet move the stirrups laterally outward against the second resilient member and move the stirrups laterally inward against the resilient force of the first resilient member. The length of the first resilient member extending through the tube portion frictionally restrains movement of the resilient member.

Accordingly, in both embodiments, the stirrups are oriented to be moved in a lateral direction against the ice restraining force of the resilient member and thus exercise the upper leg muscles.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved exercising apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved exercising apparatus for exercising the uPQer leg muscles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved exercising apparatus that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and that is specifically directed to exercising particular muscles of the leg.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and a reference to the drawing in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of our invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view with parts broken away of a second embodiment of our invention.

FIG. 4 is a view partly in cross-section of a view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a first embodiment 10 of our invention having a pair of stirrup members 26 and 28 interconnected by a resilient member 18. The resilient member 18 may comprise a known cable of live rubber having a suitable outer cover, or it may be made of any other suitable resilient material. Attached to each end of the cable 18 in any known manner is a pair of interconnecting members 20 through which is passed a spring type stirrup clasp 22 that may be made of wire or any other suitable material. The clasp 22 has ends for fitting into recessed holes of a wood member 24 that holds the foot or leg inserted through the stirrups. It should be recognized that the stirrup members 26 and 28 may also be made of leather or any other suitable material.

A resilient ball shaped device 12, that may be made of live rubber or of any other suitable material has a conduit passage 14 therethrough. The resilient member 18 is passed through the conduit passage 14 and is frictionally restrained in its longitudinal movement through the conduit passage 14 by the arrangement of the relative sizes of the resilient member 18 and the conduit passage 14. A rigid pin 16, that may be made of steel, plastic or other suitable rigid material, is embedded in the resilient ball shaped device 12 in a manner to provide support for the movement of or pulling force exerted on the resilient member 18.

A resilient extension member 30, that may have a circular or rectangular cross section, is integrally made with the resilient ball shaped device 12 and has a handle 32 secured thereto in any known manner for being grasped by the person using the exercising apparatus 10.

OPERATION OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT In operation of the first embodiment of our invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the users feet or legs are inserted through stirrups 26 and 28 and the users hands grasp the handle 32. This sometimes places the flat side 19 of the ball shaped device 12 on the users abdomen. The user then moves his legs outwardly against the resilient force of the resilient member 18, thus exercising those muscles that are used to exert this outwardly directed force and that provide controlled movement of the extended stirrups inwardly. It is also possible to exercise the muscles of one particular leg by holding the stirrup, as for example stirrup 26, with one leg and moving stirrup 28 outwardly with the other leg, thus pulling the resilient member 18 an appreciable amount through the conduit passage 14. Still further, the exercising device may be used in a manner where the feet are placed in the respective stirrups and extended lengthwise, thus moving the respective legs in a pumping motion along the length of the body and against the resilient restraining force of the resilient member 18 and the conduit passage 14.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a pair of stirrup members 31 and 34, that may be made of rubber, leather or any other suitable material, are interconnected on their inner sides by a second resilient member 46. The mid point of the second resilient member 46 is secured to the center portion of a rigid tube 42 by a known clasp 43. The outer sides of the stirrup members 31 and 34 are connected to the ends of a loop of a first resilient member 44, which loop extends through the tube 42.

The first resilient member 44 and the second resilient member 46 may be made of live rubber and comprise a known rubber cable having a woven cloth shield. The connections of the first and second resilient members 44 and 46 to the sides of the stirrups 31 and 34 may be made by known spiral wire connections having a terminating end loop that is fastened in a known manner to the sides of the stirrup members 31 and 34.

The first cable 44 is passing through the tubular member 42 fits against bearing members 50. The bearing members 50 are supported for non-rotational movement by U-shaped clasps 39 that are rigidly secured to the outer surface of the ends of tube 40 by known band connectors 37 that are closed by a known threaded connecting means 52. It being understood that the non-rotating bearing member 50 provides an appropriate frictional force against movement of the first resilient member 44 through or in the tube 42. Where desirable, the bearing member 50 may be supported on a known rotating bearing and thus reduced this frictional force as desired.

OPERATION OF THE SECOND EMBODIMENT In operation of the exercising apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the users feet or legs are placed in the stirrups 31 and 34 and the legs are moved laterally outward against the restraining force of the second resilient member 46. The legs may then be moved laterally inward against the resilient restraining force of the first resilient member 44. By the foregoing movement of the legs in- .wardly and outwardly against the resilient restraining force of the resilient members 44 and 46, the muscles in the upper leg are thereby exercised.

While we have shown and described specific forms of our invention it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we now claim:

1. An exercising apparatus for exercising an operators leg muscles comprising,

a pair of independent foot or leg receiving stirrups interconnected by a resilient means, which stirrups are moved by the operators legs against the resilient restraining force of said resilent means,

friction holding means for engaging said resilient means mid-way its length and frictionally restraining translational movement of said resilient means through said friction holding means upon movement of said stirrups under an unbalanced predetermined force on one stirrup but permitting translational movement when said predetermined force on said stirrup is exceeded,

and positioning means for positioning said friction holding means at a given location relative to an operator.

2. An exercising apparatus for exercising an operators leg muscles as claimed in claim 1 in which, said positioning means comprises an elongated member extending from the friction holding means and positioned substantially parallel to an operator using the apparatus.

3. An exercising apparatus for exercising an operators upper leg muscles as claimed in claim 1 in which,

said resilient means comprises a resilient member,

said friction holding means comprises a resilient ball shaped device having a conduit passage therethrough for passing said resilient member,

said conduit passage having a size that frictionally grips said resilent member,

and a metal support means embedded in said ball shaped device and projecting into said passage for supporting said resilient member.

4. An exercising apparatus for exercising an operators upper leg muscles as claimed in claim 3 in which,

said positioning means comprises a resilient extension member secured to said ball shaped device that extends in a direction substantially normal to said conduit passage,

and the end of said extension member having handle means for being grasped in use by an operators hands.

5. An exercising apparatus for exercising a persons upper leg muscles as claimed in claim 4 in which, said ball shaped device having a flattened side for contacting the body of an operator using the apparatus.

6. An exercising apparatus for exercising operators leg muscles comprising,

a first resilient means,

a tube through which said resilient means is passed,

a stirrup connected at its outer side to each of the respective ends of said resilient means,

a second resilient means joining the inner sides of the stirrups and being rigidly secured to the tube at approximately the mid portion of the second resilient means,

friction means on the respective ends of the tube for resisting translational movement of the first resilient means thereover.

7. An exercising apparatus for exercising a persons upper leg muscles as claimed in claim 6 in which, each end of said tube having a bearing means for supporting movement of said first resilient member in and out the ends of said tube.

8. An exercising apparatus for exercising a persons upper leg muscles as claimed in claim 7 in which,

said tube having a length greater than the expected sideways movement of said stirrups,

and said stirrups being positioned along the length of said tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,760,774 8/1956 Perez 272-83 XR 2,909,341 10/1959 Kingsley 24215l FOREIGN PATENTS 456,966 3/ 1928 Germany.

RICHARD PINKHAM, Primary Examiner W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner 

